Sausage casing



Jan. 9, 1945, DlMOND 2,366,710

SAUSAGE CAS ING Filed Sept. 2, 1942 Patented Jan. 9, 19,45

UN ITED@V #STATES PATENT OFF I CE e e 2,366,710 l sAUsAGE CASING` LloydE. nimma, Portsmouth, va. e Application September 2, 1942, Serial No.457,047

The present invention relates to an improved form of sausage casingcomposed of a suitable fabric, and having atleastone seam `in which thestitching is elastic. Sausage casings are made eitherof natural or ofarticial materials, that is to say they are either made of natural gutderived from the intestines of various animals, or it is made up ofartificial materials `such assuitable fabrics, among which are wovenmaterials and various form of paper, parchment, parchment paper, andthelike.

Particularly for themanufacturer of the larger sausage and preservedmeats it has already beenpropo'sed to produce various typesof casingsmade of parchmentized paper, which has been sewed into the lform of atubular envelope and into which theilling of meat and the like hasbeen'suitably stuffed. There is, however, a`

serious dillculty with such fabric or parchment paper casings namely thefact that when the,

sausage is subsequently l processed or pasteurized or otherwise heattreated, the iilling material has a tendency to expand, which expansionis to a great extent counteractedby the relative non-yieldability of thecasing. While under the influence of moisture and heat the parchmentwill expand and swell. It will, however,` not again contract. On theother hand if, on cool- `ing, the interior of the sausage contracts,then again the envelope will not partake of` the contraction. "In eitherevent, therefore,` the interior of the sausage will tend to shrink awayfrom the casing, or if there is sutlicient adhesionbetween the interiorand the casing, the latter will V'contractwith it.` All of these variousphenomena contribute to the formation of longitudinal as well astransverse wrinkles, whichmakes sausages thus packed quite unattractivein appearance. Furthermore, if there has been any printf ing ordecoration applied to the casing material, the wrinkling distorts it andmakes it unsightly.

Attempts have also been made in the past to produce casings out ofinherently extensible or elastic material such as various types ofplastics and even thin sheets of rubber. In thecase of rubber, however,such rubber is adversely aifected by the curing and heating of thesausage.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to overcome thedefects of fabric sausage casings, particularly when they are made of arelatively non-eXtensible material, such as parchment paper or the like,by the expedient of having in the casing 'at leastone seam made with anextensible and contractible material, that is to say an elasticmaterial.

'same scale, a cross section of 30' e ing and methods of folding thefabric;

7 claims. (c1. `:J9- 176) a A further object 'of the present inventionis v thread.

A number of details of` construction are illustrated in the` annexeddrawing, without, however,hereby wishing to limit the invention totheparticular constructional details therein shown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspectivelviewof a completely lled sausage casing made inaccordance with the present invention; l l Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are closelyrelated, Fig. 2 being a partial section on an enlarged scale' of thefabric and its associated stitching shown along the lines 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the fabric and stitching when undertension as when the interior of the sausage expands;

Fig. 4 is a partial interior view on approXi` mately the same scale `ofFigs. 2 and `3, showing the appearance of the stiching when seen -from`the inside of the casing; 4

Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, and both on the the fabric` andstitching and an inside plan view; l

Figs. 7 and 8, also on substantially 'the same scale, show furthermodifications of the stitch- Figs. 9 and 10 are also related,` showingin Fig. 10 the use of a heavier woven reinforcement applied to aparchment paper envelope,the manner of stitching being shown in Fig. 9in cross section.

While for some purposes the casing of the present invention may becomposed of a Woven fabric, it is in itspreferred embodiment, however,

ing its elongation no longer acts.

Referrmg more particularly to Figs, 1, 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen thatthe sausage casing II is provided with a longitudinal seam I2. This iseam is produced by overlapping the parts II of the general appearanceshown in the figure.

When the sausage'has been stuffed, care should' be taken not to exceedan amount of material which will just snugly lill the casing therebypar` tially stretching the elastic thread I2. This partial stretchingprovides circumferential take-up in the casing to prevent wrinkling dueto ultimate shrinkage losses of the meat during processing, while theremaining stretch left in the .seam provides for a subsequent swellingof the meat during the cooking process. tice will enable an operator toascertain how A little pracmuch to stretch the seam When stuffing toprevent breakage on subsequent heat processing Aand also to preventwrinkles in the finished product. The sausage is then processed orpasteurized, causing a certain amount of expansion which w-ill exert apulling force upon the thread I2 which will yield, as is attempted to beindicated in Fig. 3 at `the point I4. When the sausage subsequentlycools the retractive force of the elasticity of the threads I2 willtendto pull the .threads back `into the position shown in Figs. 2

and 4, so that therefore the sausage casing will the entire assemblythen being sewn by means of the elastic threads I2 and the non-elasticthreads I2 and I5 in a manner similai` to what is shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7and 8. A suitable adhesive for securing the woven fabric I6 to theparchment paper I I may be a self-curing urea-formaldehyde condensationproduct type of synthetic plastic adhesive which is preferably curedbefore the stitching is effected.

fWhile the invention has beenillustrated with the seams reversed sothatl they are -on the inside of the casing, the invention is by nomeans limited to such construction, as self-evidently the seam can beallowed to remain visible on the outside, thereby forming a sort ofhandle or tab by which the sausage casing may be grasped and removedfrom each individual slice, after the slices are cut ofi, etc. Aparticular advantage of the double construction shown in Figs. 5 through8 lies in the fact thatthe interior casing mayv be provided on its.

eventual outside with suitable printing or ornay mental indicia, whilethe outermost layer maybe again lie smoothly against the contents of thesausage, thereby preventing a wrinkled appearance which it is the objectof the present invention to avoid. n

Further modification is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 where the walls consistof .two layers Il and II so as to provide a double thickness of casing.Furthermore, in addition to elastic stitching I2 there is also anon-elastic stitching I5, which ser-ves to protect the sausage againstleakage of meat when the elastic seam opens up due to stretching,

lIn the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a zigzag stitching is employed, onethread I2 being elastic while the other thread I2' is non-elastic.

`liy reason of the elastic stitching I2 being in the zigzag form, aconsiderable amount of stretching can take place without danger ofbursting the casing during vthe processing steps. In Figs. 7

vand f8 there is shown a still further modification,

here again there being the double layers II .and II', but with the seambeing in a number of folds, but using both the elastic stitching `I2 andthe non-elastic stitching I2 and I5. The insideplan View of thisconstruction is shown in greater detail in Fig. 8. Y

plain so that when the sausage 1s .processed the printed` matter willnot be injured. A-terthe processing the outer layer may then be strippedoff, leaving the interior layer clean and presentable, thereby`rendering vthe sausage more attractive to the consumer inappearance. v

While rubberized thread hasbeen `indicated as being the material usedfor effecting the sewing in the seams, straight rubber thread or similarelastic material may be sub stii-,uted without departing from the scopeof the present invention.

I claim: A. y

1. A 4sausage casing composed of :a fabric having `at least onelongitudinal seam consisting of elastic thread so arranged that saidseam i. is stretchable only in a ldirection transversely of said seam.

2. Asausage casing made of one or `more thicknesses of parchmentpaperand havingA at least one longitudinal seam stretchable `,only in adirection transversely of said seam and comprising one elastic threadVand one substantially nonelastic thread. s f

3. A sausage casingmade of one or more thicknesses of parchment paperand having at least one longitudinal seam `comprising rubber thread .'soarranged as to make :theseam stretchableonly in a direction transverselyof said seam.

Figs. V9 and 10 show a still further modicasay,'parchme`nt paper, butwhere the seam is reinforced by meansof a woven fabric IB which `isadhesively secured rto the parchment paper I I,

Ation 'in which there is used a single layer II of,

4.1 A sausage casing madeuof la fabric'and having a longitudinal seamconsisting of overlapping portions' held together by elastic thread soiar- ,ranged as to be stretchable only in a direction `.transversely ofsaidseam.

5. Thesausage casing ofclaim 4 where the seam is reinforced Eby.additional Ylayers of fabric.

6.,The sausage casing `of lclaim 4 ywhere the seam is reinforced byadditional layers of fabric adhesively secured to the main body ofthefabric.

7. A tubular .parchment-paper comestible envelope having `at least oneonly transversely tretchable longitudinal :seam'sewed with rubber 'ehread.

LLOYD n. DIMOND.

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